A Doctor in King Uther's Court
by emryslovely
Summary: The Doctor, Amy, and Rory travel to a place once thought to only exist in legends: Camelot. But when the Doctor gets arrested for sorcery, Amy and Rory must team up with Gwen and Merlin to help him escape, and they may need some help from Arthur.
1. Chapter 1

**_Summary: _**_The Doctor, Amy, and Rory go to Camelot to meet the fabled characters of Arthurian Legend. But when the Doctor gets arrested for sorcery, Amy and Rory need help from Merlin and Gwen. Meanwhile, in his father's court, Arthur meets a mysterious man called "the Doctor," charged with practicing magic, who seems to know something about his mother. _

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't own any of these characters that belong to the BBC. I just like to play with them like little puppets._

The Doctor flipped some switches, pulled some levers, pressed some buttons, and then grinned as the TARDIS began to rock back and forth. He rushed around the console, checking everything twice, gesturing at Amy and Rory to help them reach their destination.

"But where are we going?" They would yell.

"To see legends unfold!" the Doctor would reply before telling them to hurry up.

The familiar whirring noise came as they landed.

When the ship had come to a stop, Amelia Pond rushed to the Doctor's side.

"Where have you taken us, Doctor?" she squealed. "Can you tell us now?" She fixed her stare on him, her eyes pleading to know.

"Guess." The Doctor's face was bright with excitement. He was truly enjoying their anticipation as they had no clue.

"Hmm," Amy bit her lip in frustration and impatience.

"Is it a planet?" Rory Williams, Amy's husband, chimed in.

"Yes. A specific place on said planet."

"Is it an alien planet?" Amy inquired.

"Well, to me, yes."

"It's Earth, isn't it?"

"Yep."

Amy tilted her head in a curious fashion. "When on Earth?"

The Doctor nodded to the door, still smirking. "Go and see."

Amy raced down to the doors, pulled them open, and peeked out. She then promptly shut them. "It looks..." she began, squinting her eyes, "medieval."

"Medieval... legend... Still don't get it," Rory shook his head.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Come on, think! Medieval legends. Legends from medieval times. Put two and two together; it's not that difficult."

"Doctor, we're not as clever as you. Give us a bit more to go on." Amy imitated his eyeroll.

"Come on!" The Doctor was getting impatient. "This is when the most famous wizard in all of history lived! You read books on him, you hear myths about him, except they're not myths. This has to be ringing a bell."

"Famous wizard. Legend. Medieval. Wait..." Amy's eyes widened. "Are you talking about Merlin?"

"Yes!" The Doctor gesticulated wildly with his arms at her revelation.

"So this means..."

"We're in Camelot," Rory finished proudly.

"Yes! Come along, Ponds! We may even meet King Arthur!" The Doctor marched his way out the door, Amy following close behind.

"Uh, Doctor, are you including me in that? Because really, that's not how it works!" Rory shouted as he was the last one to leave the TARDIS.

"So Camelot, Merlin, King Arthur, and the Knights of the Round Table really did exist?" Amy had her hands in her pockets and was now interrogating the Doctor on history as the three of them strolled casually through the streets of Camelot.

"Yes, although I'm not actually sure which version of the legend is true," the Doctor replied, adjusting his bowtie.

"Are you really going to wear that?" She squinted at the accessory.

"Yes. Bowties are cool, and I'm sure Morgan le Fay will agree with me. Now, come along Ponds!" he said once again.

Amy followed, until she realised Rory wasn't. She turned around and found him a few yards back, arms crossed, glaring at them. She stopped and motioned at him to come with them.

He shook his head and continued to glare.

Amy heaved a sigh and stomped to him. "Oh, what's wrong now?"

"He won't stop calling me Pond! I'm not a Pond!" Rory whimpered.

"Oh, cheer up, it's just a habit of his."

The Doctor was still walking in the opposite direction, totally apathetic toward what his companions were doing.

"Does he have to add the 's' to it to make it plural? And technically, you're not a Pond either! Not anymore!"

"Why don't you just bring it up with him later?" Amy put her arm around her husband's shoulders, and they both continued walking. "Right now, I want to meet lady Guinevere."

They walked along, taking in the sights and smells of the fabled kingdom. The castle, beautifully built, towered over them in all its glory. Passersby occasionally gave them strange glances for their odd attire, but mostly ignored them as they made their way through the streets.

"Woman in shorts. Must be a sight to see here, yeah?"

"Yeah..." Rory was too distracted by all their surroundings to pay attention to Amy. "We are in Camelot!"

"I can see that."

"Yeah, but... I just never knew this place existed! I mean, I watched movies and read books about this place, and always thought it was just a story. But here it is! Right in front of us. We are in Camelot. We are in history! We are in legend!"

"I thought you would have gotten used to traveling throughout time and space. You're acting like this is your first trip."

"But this is all supposed to be complete fiction built up over centuries! It's not supposed to be real! You can't tell me you're not super excited."

Amy leaned in closely, her eyes darting back and forth. "Want to know the truth?"

"What's that?"

"No matter where the Doctor takes me, I always feel like it's the first time. It's always something new; it's always something great. I will never get used to it.

Rory smiled, and they both linked arms and continued to walk.

Suddenly, Rory paused to look around frantically. "Where'd he go?"

"Huh?"

"The Doctor. Where did he go?"

"I thought he went down this way."

"I haven't seen him. Oh, great. We lost the Doctor. Did he do this with you when you two were alone?"

"He always turns up. Eventually. Let's just find Merlin and meet him and learn some magic or something."

"They were the ones! They came from the blue box with him!"

Amy and Rory turned to face the direction the shout had come from. What they saw were two guards running in their direction, swords drawn.

"Do you think they're coming for us?" Rory yelled.

"What do you think? Run!" Amy shouted back.

So they ran through the streets, dodging people and baskets and animals that lay in their way. They turned two corners, and though it appeared that they had lost their pursuers, Rory pulled Amy into a small house and promptly shut the door, listening to the guards as they passed by.

Both turned and leaned against the door, sighing with relief.

That was when they saw two people, a man and a woman, both staring at them.

The woman spoke up. "Who are you?"


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor hit the stone cold floor with an impact as the guards threw him to his knees in front of the court, his hands bound in front of him, yet he gave no struggle, even as Uther Pendragon towered over him.

"What is your name?" the king glowered at him threateningly.

The Doctor rocked back and forth on the floor a bit before answering. "You can just call me the Doctor. You must be Uther Pendragon. Pleasure to meet you, really; I'm a big fan. Well, I was until you had me arrested." He shrugged apathetically.

"I am the King of Camelot and you shall address me as such. Now tell me, what is that dreadful piece of fashion that rests upon your neck?"

"Oh, this thing?" the Doctor lifted his hands and adjusted the accessory. "It's a bowtie. Bowties are cool. Is that what I got arrested for? My fashion sense a little to hip for Camelot?"

Uther rolled his eyes. "No," he said. "Is it true you came out of a blue box?"

"Yeah, I do that sometimes. Well, loads of times, actually."

"What kind of magic is the blue box."

"Magic? No magic. Just science. I could go into details, but I doubt you'd understand anything about the displacement of atoms."

"What are you babbling about?"

"Oh, never mind. The question at hand is why did you arrest me? We've established that it isn't my cool attire. You said something about magic, but I haven't practiced any magic. I only just got here today."

"Would you shut up?" Uther was only growing annoyed.

"Once you tell me why I was arrested!" The Doctor then gave up the floor to Uther.

"You were arrested on charges of sorcery."

"Sorcery! Arrested for sorcery in Camelot! Well, I've certainly never heard this version of the legend before," he added quietly to himself. He then looked to the king's side to see a blonde young man eyeing him suspiciously. "And who might this be?"

The blonde man squinted at the stranger. "I am Arthur Pendragon, Prince of Camelot, and you will show some respect."

The Doctor smiled ear to ear with excitement and attempted to clap his hands with glee, but the ropes prevented him from doing so. "Arthur Pendragon!" He sat up straight. "Look, everyone, it's Arthur Pendragon! Wow! I love you; you're absolutely brilliant." He leaned in a bit. "Watch out and don't sleep with any of your aunts." He shook his finger at Arthur. "You may produce some unwanted children."

Arthur's eyes widened with confusion, shock, and a bit of disgust at the strange man's suggestion.

"So, sorcery's banned in Camelot. The question is why. Why would you of all people, Uther Pendragon, ban sorcery? Because as far as I know, and correct me if I'm wrong because there are those rare occasions that I am, but Camelot was once filled with magic. Oh, I'm right, aren't I?" the Doctor said in response to Uther's sudden facial change. "And I'm guessing that Arthur, here, had something to do with it."

At that, Uther's face changed from anger to fear. "You shall speak no more! You are charged with practicing magic. You will be burned tomorrow morning! Take him away!"

"Tell your son how you used magic to conceive him!" the Doctor yelled in delight. The guards paused for a moment, and the Doctor saw Arthur's horrified face.

"Oh, I am so sorry," he gave Arthur a look of deep sympathy before being dragged from the throne room.

"When you find his two accomplices, they get the same sentence." Uther waved his hand at the others.

"Sire, we found this on the Doctor," a guard spoke up, holding the sonic screwdriver out.

"Destroy it. It's probably magic."

"Yes, my Lord."

Uther walked back to where his sone was standing, bewildered.

"He's lying, Arthur. Don't listen to him." He pat him on the shoulder before walking away, leaving Arthur with the unusual Doctor's words still ringing in his ears.

_"Oh, I am so sorry."_


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I'm sorry this chapter took so long! I had no clue how to write it, and I don't think I did well. Uuurrgggh, the endless war of getting what's in your brain onto paper.**

"Who are you?" repeated the woman. The man was standing behind her holding a fire poker as if it were a weapon.

"Uuuuhh," was all Rory could muster.

"I'm Amy, and this is Rory, my husband," Amy answered cautiously.

"What are you doing here?" the woman snapped, relentless in her interrogation.

Neither Amy nor Rory could answer anything more than a simple "um."

"Why were those guards chasing you?"

The both of them shook their head frantically. "We don't know. We've only just arrived in... um, Camelot..." Rory stated hesitantly.

The man behind the woman slowly lowered the fire poker, and it fell to the floor with a clang. "What do you want?" she asked.

Rory shrugged. "Just to visit, really. Nothing else, uh, to it."

"Um, what are your names?" asked Amy.

The woman glared at the two travelers before responding, "I'm Guinevere, and this is Merlin."

Her response cause Amy to squeal while Rory's jaw dropped to the floor.

"You're... Guinevere?" exclaimed Amy in a fangirl's tone. She stared for a second before dropping to her knees. "Your majesty," she said solemnly before pulling Rory down with her, who was still standing, dumbfounded.

Guinevere just stood in shock. "Uhhh, what? I'm no majesty."

"Not yet," added Merlin.

"Shut up, Merlin."

"You've been spending so much time with Arthur, you're starting to sound like him."

"I said shut up."

"Yes, Gwen."

"So you're not married to King Arthur yet?" asked Rory.

"King? He's only a prince, and no, I'm not married to him."

"Oh," Amy said, standing up straight again. "And you, Merlin," she began. "Do you have..." she made gesticulations in the air in front of her, "magic?"

Merlin's eyes widened with a look of sheer horror, but Gwen bent over, picked up the fire poker he had dropped before, and held it up threateningly. "Get out."

Amy put her hands up and stepped back while Rory stepped in front of her. "What, did I say something wrong?" she asked fearfully.

"Magic is banned in Camelot. Do you practice magic? Get out!" Gwen stepped forward menacingly, which caused both Rory and Amy to jump back.

"No, we don't practice magic!" cried Rory, putting his hands in the air. "Really, we don't! Where we're from, there's a legend of a magical Merlin. But obviously... it's not this one."

Gwen didn't waver from her defensive stance.

Merlin spoke up. "Gwen," he began, "I don't think you should jump to conclusions. Look at them, they need our help,"

"They could have magic. We can't let magic into Camelot, not after Morgana." Gwen kept her eyes on the couple, who still held their hands up.

Merlin sighed a deep, long sigh and continued, "Gwen, remember your father?"

That stopped her in her tracks. She slowly turned behind her to look him in the eye. "That's not fair."

"Think about it, Gwen. Not everyone who Uther's been after has actually done anything wrong or practiced magic."

Amy and Rory watched as the two whispered quietly to themselves. Soon, their arms grew tired, and they put them down at their sids. Rory grabbed Amy's hand and held it tight. Amy squeezed back.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, Gwen silently walked past them, tears in her eyes, grabbed her shawl off a hook, and walked out the door.

"Where's she gone?" asked Amy.

"To talk to Arthur," Merlin replied.

"About what?"

"What you're being chased for. Would you like some food?"

"Yes, please," Rory pushed past Amy and sat down at the table. Amy rolled her eyes.

"Don't be rude," she scolded.

"What? I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry." Merlin set a bowl down in front of Rory. "Oh, and Amy? That is your name, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Gwen says she may have an extra dress. It's best if you don't draw..." his eyes flickered down, "attention to yourself."

Rory glared at him. "Eyes away from the legs, buddy."

Amy grinned as Merlin mumbled, "Sorry," and proceeded behind some curtains at the back of the tiny house. As soon as he was out of sight, Amy enthusiastically sat down beside her husband. "Camelot!" she squealed quietly.

Rory nodded excitedly. "We are in Guinevere's house while Merlin is serving us food," he whispered.

"I know!"

"But Amy," he said, putting on a serious expression, "where do you think the Doctor's gone?"

"Oh, the Doctor? Probably got himself arrested, the bloke. But for what?"

"The bow tie is a crime itself."

Amy began to giggle, but when Merlin came back from behind the curtain, she fell silent.

Merlin was holding a long orange and white dress. "Will this do? It may not fit quite right."

Amy got up from her seat at the table and reached out. "It'll be fine. Besides," she took it and held it up to her body, "it'll bring out my hair." She smirked and went behind the curtains, pulling them shut. "Hey!" her voice soon called out. "There are windows in here!"

"There should be a cover!" Merlin called back.

A bit of fumbling was heard, followed by a small "Thank you."

Merlin spooned out a bit of stew for Rory and then for himself before sitting down across the table from the strange traveller. Rory thanked him and began to eat. After taking a few bites, Merlin started to speak.

"What do you know about me?"

Rory looked up, his mouth full of stew. He put his spoon down and carefully swallowed his portion before replying, "I only kno-"

"Stupid string corset thing!" cried Amy from the back.

Rory hastily got up. "I'll help her." He went back to find her struggling to tie the corset's binding together.

"You're having trouble with that?"

"Oh please, have you ever tried putting one of these on? I don't think you realise just how difficult it is."

"Need help?"

Amy tugged once more. "Nope, I got it." She finished tying, and they made their way back to the table where Merlin sat waiting. "Would you like some stew?" he asked her.

"No, thank you, I'm not hungry." She sat next to Rory, who continued to eat his meal.

"So, what do you know about me?" he repeated.

A knock came at the door.

"Come in," said Arthur, not looking up from the brick wall he was carving his dagger through absentmindedly.

The door opened and Gwen came through. "Arthur?"

"Hi, Gwen," he mumbled.

"What's the matter?" she asked, walking to him and taking a seat beside him.

"Oh, nothing." He began to struggle to dig his knife deeper into the mortar. Gwen grabbed it from him and set it down.

"Why are you doing that?"

"It's just something I do when I'm bored."

"Not that. Why are you moping?"

Arthur sighed. "There was a sorcerer here today. He said something strange and a bit... upsetting."

"What was it?"

Arthur shook his head. "Never mind."

Gwen put her hand on his knee. "You can tell me anything; you know that." She looked him straight in the eye.

He didn't want to relent, but eventually he did. He took a deep breath inward and began.

"Remember when Morgause defeated me in a duel?"

Gwen bit back a snicker. "Yes?"

"Don't laugh; it was and still is the most mortifying experience of my life."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really!"

She stared at his very serious expression before bursting into laughter.

"Do you want to hear the rest or not?"

She promptly shut up.

"OK, so Morgause said that she'd only let me live if I met her at a specific place at a specific time to talk to her. My father tried to keep me from going, but I made Merlin help me sneak out."

"That wasn't very nice; he could have gotten into trou-"

"Anyway, I went to meet her like I promised, and she said that she knew something about my mother, and that I could meet my mother if I wanted to."

"Meet her?"

"Morgause is a sorcerer, obviously, so she could perform a spell to bring my mother back for a bit.

"She appeared before me, and although she had limited time, she said that my father had conceived me with magic."

Gwen gasped and put her hand to her mouth.

"And then, she was gone.

"When I came back to Camelot, I..." he trailed off, tears forming in his eyes.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, I want to tell you." Arthur shook his head vigorously. "The only other person who knows is Merlin. I got to the throne room, where I confronted my father." He looked out the window to avoid her eye contact. "I tried to kill him."

Gwen was left speechless.

"Merlin came in and stopped the whole thing, saying that Morgause had tricked me and that it hadn't really been my mother."

Gwen suddenly became very interested in the floor pattern.

"Today, a man was arrested for sorcery. He called himself 'the Doctor' and said a lot of strange things, almost as if he knew us."

Gwen's mind wandered back to the two travelers who had bowed to her.

"This man said to my father, 'Tell your son how you used magic to conceive him!' He then looked me in the eyes, apologised, and was dragged to the dungeons. My father sentenced him to death."

Gwen looked up from the marble floor and said, "Maybe he was sent by Morgause." She shrugged.

"I thought of that, but there are so many strange things I can't fathom."

"Like what?"

"Um, he said I was brilliant and that he 'loved' me. He also said he was a big 'fan' of my father."

Gwen began to mumble, "Why do they act like they know us?"

"What?"

"Nothing."

Arthur decided to ignore it. "Plus, his magic is strange. A woman claimed she saw a big blue box appear out of nowhere and he, along with two others, another man and a 'half-naked' woman, came out of it.

"The man and woman escaped, so be careful; they're around Camelot somewhere."

Gwen shifted in her seat.

"We have the blue box." The mischievous grin of a small child appeared on his face. "Wanna see?"

Gwen smiled back. "Are we allowed?"

He got up and held his hand out. "Have I ever let that stop me?"

Gwen laughed, took his hand, and the two of them proceeded to the throne room.


End file.
